MUM’S the word when it comes to celebrating victory in the GDNLife’s monthly adult section of our social media platform’s popular short story writing competition.
Financial analyst Veronica Selvarajan has followed in her daughter’s footsteps to win the BD25 prize with her own entry entitled Words which has already attracted more than 2,400 views.
“I’ve always wanted to be a writer,” said the Indian expatriate who lives in Saar. “In this story, I was going for a ‘Kafka’ type of effect.
“It feels great to win the monthly prize! Any unexpected, good news is always wonderful.
“This is a great platform to write short stories. It really makes us think about ‘delivery-with-impact’ as we need to develop characters, events and emotions within just 800 words.
“Thank you for this opportunity once again!”
For the uninitiated, Kafka encourages you to see the world as sequences of events, which it models as key-value pairs.
Ms Selvarajan, described her age as ‘old enough to say I grew up listening to Sting’, moved to the kingdom in 2012 to work as a commercial head at Bahrain Steel. She revealed that her ‘beautiful and talented’ daughter, Tess Jannah, won the contest in two consecutive months in 2020 – both junior and adult sections – as she turned 18 between entries!
Judge Rohini Sunderam, from Bahrain Writers Circle, described Words as ‘an interesting story with an ending that gives one goose bumps’.
In the U18 category, the judges chose teenager Ann Maria Thomson’s spooky tale of grandma’s funeral entitled All I do is nod as the winner for September and the prize of a pair of Cineco Cinema tickets.
Judge Chris Fenton, head teacher of the British Primary Department at Al Noor International School, was impressed by ‘some very strong characterisation’. “And, a terrifying twist at the end that I didn’t see coming – very well done!” he added.
It was a case of double delight for the writer too as the Indian expatriate won the monthly contest two years ago with a short story called Happy Birthday! which Judge Fenton described at the time as a ‘very urgent, exciting piece’.
The Asian School Bahrain student lives with her family in Salmaniya and enjoys writing, watching movies, public speaking and reading books.
“Thank you so much!” she said. “I am 17 years now and yes, this is my second time, as I previously won in 2020. This victory came as a surprise and I’m honoured to be the winner again. I thank the organisers and judges for selecting my work, all the readers of my story, and my family and friends for encouraging me.
“This platform has given me an opportunity to develop my passion into a reality. It is not just for me, but also for many adults and young people who love to celebrate life through words. This is a new experiment from my side since I usually write stories that fall into the drama genre. This story falls under the fantasy genre. I hope to write many more amazing stories.’’
More than 1,600 visitors have so far read All I do is nod.
You can check out the latest winning entries by placing your smartphone over the QR Codes.
October 2022 entries are invited so get writing up to 800 words today! Register, choose an image, create a title, copy and paste your words in text – and submit to share your work on www.gdnlife.com – clearly stating Adult or U18 entry.
Our panel of judges will also decide on who should walk away with the annual GDNLife Short Story of the Year prize trophies in both categories after the competition’s anniversary next year.
The winner of the GDNLife People’s Choice Award – the short story that has received the most views and likes – will also be announced.
Keen writers of all ages are being offered the chance to publish their work on Bahrain’s popular social media platform for a monthly prize. As a result of the contest’s success there is now a special exclusive Short Story section on www.gdnlife.com for visitors to enjoy.
Winning Stories
September Short Story, Adult, Veronica Selvarajan, Title: WORDS
U18 short story, Ann Maria Thomson All I do is nod
managingeditor@gdnmedia.bh
